Italy’s SUN Consortium Increases Market Share In 2018

Italy’s Supermercati Uniti Nazionali (SUN) consortium has ended the year with a 3.6% market share, up on last year’s 3.4% share. The retailer, which also operates the Consilia private label brand, is targeting a market share of 3.8% in 2019.

Turnover is expected to reach €2.92 billion this year, compared to €2.84 billion in 2017, with a forecast of €3.06 billion in 2019.

Overall, the SUN consortium has a 3.6% share in the hyper/supermarket channel and 5.1% in the supermarket channel, surpassing the share of rival Auchan, which holds 5%.

Investment Plan

SUN said that further growth will be supported by an investment plan focusing on new openings, as well as the restructuring of the existing retail network. Individual members will invest a total of €76 million in 2019.

The development of the distribution network is evidenced by the increase in store numbers, with the group's store count increasing from 574 stores in 2017 to around 610 by the end of 2019.

A significant contribution to the positive performance has come from the Consilia private label brand.

Sales of Consilia products amounted to €132.4 million in 2017 and are expected to reach €146.8 million in 2018 and €158 million in 2019.

Meanwhile, the number of product references available is set to grow from over 2,000 in 2017 to 2,200 in 2019.